Modular collating machine



Jug}! 1965 v. J. CAMPBELL MODULAR CQLLATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Shep: 1

Original Filed June 6, 1962 I NVENTOR. Waemm; .ffiamma July 6, 1965 v. J. CAMPBELL MODULAR COLLATING MACHINE Q WW WWW:

in Wm mm \m mN sow bu .N MN 3 m .N rrmn 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Van/a {Can/P2614 I irrakwe'gs' July 6, 1965 v J. CAMPBELL MODULAR COLLATING MACHINE Qriginal Filed June 6, 1962 mv QM mm Q. mm Nw Y 9// ////////////////w//%/////// VV/MV MZQ/ 9/ "ing requirements. basic standard design of a machine which will meet the 3,193,279 MQDULAR COLLATRNG MACHINE Vernon J. Campbell, New York, N.Y., assignor to Miehle- (loss-Dexter, Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Continuation of abandoned application Ser. No. 200,454, June 6, 1962. This application July 16, 1964, Ser. No.

requirement of a large segment of the market with said basic design being subject to ready modification to vary the size of the machine to meet specific requirements of a relatively small segment of the market.

Reference herein is had to a relatively small sized collating machine for use in individual places of business for assembling such material as reports, bulletins and the like. In actual practice the greater percentage of a demand for collating is for a machine that will assemble from two to four sheets of paper. This invention is intended to provide a machine which will permit both smaller and larger business activities economically and .with a relatively small investment to handle their own collating work without having to resort to hand assembly or to send such work out to be done for them.

Competitive types of machines commonly are made up of a basic design to handle a specific number of sheets and are not subject to change in size to handle a greater 'or lesser number of sheets.

From a manufacturing point of view, a great economy is practiced in providing a basic machine comprising a combined power unit and receiving apparatus at one end .of the assembled machine with a terminal section to complete the other end of the machine, and mounted there 7 between complete module units such as having pairs of stations each or a two sheet handling capacity, with said module units being readily assembled between the power unit and terminal section and in connection with one another for putting together a machine of any de-- sired size or capacity in multiples of the module unit.

Thus in the instance where a customer may initially purchase a two station machine, he may buy additional module units to increase the capacity of the machine without having to buy an entirely new machine. Thus,

the applicant provides substantial flexibility in a collating machine in providing a machine which can be readily adapted to meet different capacity requirements.

It is an object of this invention therefore to provide a collating machine which is readily adjustable as to size and capacity.

It is another object of this invention to provide a collating machine having individual units of capacity which 'may be readily assembled in greater or lesser number to .meet a specific use or capacity requirement.

United States Patent F 3,l%,279 Patented July 6, 1965 It is a further object of this invention to provide identical separable units of capacity which may be readily hooked up to another to provide a continuity of both mechanical and electrical power from the power unit for a timed operation of the assembled units as a unitary machine.

More specifically it is an object of this invention to provide a basic collating machine comprising in combination a power and receiving unit, a remote terminal unit basic structure of a portion of applicants apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation taken on line 33 of FIG. 1 as indicatedby the arrows;

' FIG. 4 is a view in elevation of the other side of applicants apparatus with portions being shown in dotted line and some portions being broken away;

'FIG. 5 is a view in elevation of one side of a unit of frame structure of applicants apparatus; v FIG. 6 is a view in end elevation of the structure shown in FIG. 5; and 1 FIG. 7 is a' view in elevation of the other side of said frame structure indicated in FIG. 5. i

The essential novelty of the invention disclosed and claimed herein comprises the construction of a module unit and the assembly of a plurality of module units one with another in connection with the forward section and the terminal section of applicants collating ,machine. No novelty is here claimed'in the structure of the forward section and only so much of the forward and terminal sections are here disclosed and described as are believed to be essentialto show a cooperative relationship with the module units.

Referring FIGS. 5-7, a basic frame unit 12-is shown of a module unit 10 comprising a side wall or panel 13 in the form of a parallelogram having its vertical sides inclined as illustrated and having upper and lower portions 14 and 15 and having centrally therein an oblong opening 15 with notched or cut out central side portions 17 and 18 at either side edge portion thereof and having staggered stub shafts 21' extending outwardly of said portion 15. Carried by the upper portion 14 at either disposed plate portion 27 with the upper edge portions of said panel and said plate being coplanar. Said vertical plate portion 27 has at its outer side at either end thereof locking bosses 28 and 29 similar to said bosses 23 and 24.

Said web has an outwardly extending right-angled platelike base portion 30 coplanar with the bottom of said of the lower portion 15 are right-angled apertured lugs 37 and 38 having their apertures aligned with apertures 22 in said'portion 15.

Carried at the lower side edge portions of the panel portion 15 are locking bosses 39 and 40 similar to the bosses 23 and 24. v Referring to FIG. 4 and more particularly to the module unit at the left-hand side thereof, shown are trays 42 slidably mounted onto the panels 32 and 32' by opposed facing channel brackets 43 engaging the upper and lower edge portions of said panels.

Pivotally supported by said apertured lugs 37 and 38 are feeding arms 45 and 46 formed of pivotally linked upper and lower arm portions with the lower arm portions thereof being secured to shafts 48 which are disposed through said apertures 22 to extend outwardly of said panel 13 as will be described. The upper portions of 'said arms reciprocatingly engage sheets of paper 50 carried in said trays.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, it is seen how the locking bosses 23-24 and 39-40 are engaged and secured respectively together by bolts 52. r 7

Referring to FIGS. 2'-4 and 6, vertically grooved bosses 53 are shown in opposed relation at opposite sides of said framework 12 in which are removably disposed rods 55 having one right-angled end portion 55 to prevent rotation thereof and having journalled thereon transversely spaced rollers 56, as is indicated in FIG. 2, with each moduleunit carrying two sets of such rollers longitudinally spaced thereof.

Extending between panels 13 and 27 and longitudinally thereof are plate members 60 secured to lugs 61 and each having trailing downwardly inclined portions 60a and a central leading or forwardly extending portion 64 of reduced transverse width and of resilient material overlying the trailing edge portion of the adjacent forward plate member. 1

Pivotal flippers 65 are carried depending into'the trays 42 to overlie the leading edge portions of the sheets of paper carried therein to guide the uppermost sheet upwardly, as will hereinafter be explained. Said member 65 will be carried on rods extending between the sides 27 and 13 and not here illustrated.

In vertical alignment with respective pairs of rollers 56 and in contact therewith are rollers 67 secured to a shaft 68 extending outwardly of saidpanel 13 to carry a gear 69. Said gears 69 are driving gears and meshing therewith are idler gears 72 journallcd onto stub shafts 71 extending outwardly of said panel 13.

Mounted on the stub shafts 21 are gears 75 and 76 in alternate arrangement meshing with one another. Said gears 76 have outwardly projecting pins 78. Secured at one end to the extended end portions of shafts 48 are fiat bars 80 having elongated slots 80a therein through which are disposed said projecting pins 78. A

A single wire wiring system is used with applicants apparatus comprising wires 83 and connectors 84 and in circuit therewith are micro switches 85. One of said switches is provided for operative association with each .of the paper dispensing stations respectively comprising a tray 42 and its associated paper feeding arm. Said switches are respectively actuated by pins 86 projecting from the inner sides of the gears 76, as indicated in FIG. 3.

A terminal unit 90 is shown having inclined side portions 91 and 92 designed to mate with and be secured to the terminal end portion of a module unit by a pair of upper locking bosses 94 which mate with bosses 24 and 28 and a lower locking boss 95 mating with the locking boss 39, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and'4. Said side portions will be held in rigid spaced relation by a cross strut 97. The purpose here is merely to provide an enclosure for the rearward feeding arm and tray of the end module.

Forwardly of the leading module unit is a power unit 7 which is here indicated generally only and will have paper, but this unit forms no part of the present invention and is presented for purpose .of illustration only. The unit 100 will be'secured tothe; adjacent module unit by locking bosses mating with locking bosses 23 and Operation As above indicated, the invention herein has to do particularly with the construction and assembly'of module units of the invention with said module units respectively comprising means for storing sheets of paper and means in connection therewith arranged and constructed to be actuated to dispense said sheets whereby said sheetsare gathered into sets.

The modular construction of a collating machine represents a substantial improvement in this art. As the con- 'Vfil'ltiOIlEli type of collating machine is initially constructed to have a certain capacity which may be'increased only by replacementwitha larger machine, or if a smaller capacity machine is desired than is available, a machine ,must be purchased with the knowledge that only a 1101'- tion'of its capacity will be utilized. The applicants construction provides for readily increasing or decreasing the size of the machine to directly increase or decrease its capacity whereby it is possible to secure a machine tailored .to the requirements of the user.

The applicants modular unit 12 is shown here comprising two trays 42 with the additional structure to dispense sheets from'these'trays in a sequential operation. Other than the receiving and power units of the machine and the terminal unit, the basic element or unit'of the applicants machine is the module unit and it determines the capacity of the machine as to the number of sheets of paper that may be handled. Hence at the outset, in views of the embodiment here, disclosed, the capacity of applicants machine may comprise any desired number of module units such'as one, two or more as may suit the needs of the user and as will hereinafter be indicated.

The addition and conversely the removal of a module With reference to FIGS. 1, 3 and 14, the module unit 12 is shown carrying a pair of trays 42 with the feeding arms 45 being reciprocated by the bars 80 which in turn are actuated by the pins 78. carried by the gears 76. The relationsh p between said gears 76 and the bars 80 is such that the arms 45 will reciprocate in a sequential order to 'feed out sheets50 from said trays 42 in order to assemble sets of sheets comprising one sheet from each tray. In meshed engagement with the gears 76 are gears 75.

The rollers 56 and 67 are spaced to be positioned at the openings or points of separation between the plates 60 with said openings being in alignment with the trays 42 whereby sheets are fed into engagement with said rollers with therbottom rollers 67 acting as driving rollers to move the sheets forwardly along the surface of the plates 60. Theabove structure is indicated in FIG. 4. The respective sets of rollers 56 and 67 are spaced apart longitudinally of the module unit a distance somewhat less than the length of the sheets whereby the sheets moving along the surface of the plates 6% will always be drivingly engaged by said rollers. As each sheet is advanced along the surface of the plates 60 as its leading edge approaches a tray 42, a sheet will be fed out of said tray to underlie the sheet or sheets moving along the plates 60.

Mounted at the outer side of said wall 30 are gears 69 and 72. Gears 69 are carried on the extended ends of the shafts 68 which carry the rollers 67 whereby the gears 69 drive the rollers 67. The gears 72 are idler gears.

Applicants device carries a single wire wiring system which is important insofar as the invention herein is concerned only to the extent of connecting the wiring of each module unit with that of adjacent module units and to indicate the simplicity of making such connections.

The unit 100 representing a power or driving unit is included herein merely to illustrate a complete machine and also only for this reason is included the receiving unit 105. These units may be of conventional design and represent no inventive novelty herein. The driving gears 101 and 102 of the unit 1th) are driven by intermediate gears from a source of power such as a motor carried by the unit 109, and these gears respectively engage and drive the gears 69 and 75 of the first module unit adjacent thereto.

To connect or to assemble one module unit with another, reference is had to the stripped module units indicated in FIG. 2, with the inclined adjacent edge portions of the walls 39 and of the panels 27 mating. In this position, with reference to FIG. 1, the upper locking boses 23-24 and 28-29 and the lower locking bosses 39 and 40 as indicated in FIG. 4, are mated together and respectively secured by bolts 52. The bosses 23, 29 and 40 will be tapped to receive said bolts. The frame of the module unit is compact and rigid with the foot or supporting portion 30 providing substantial base support. The driving members of the device are all carried at the side of the wall 30 which is substantially supported by the extended foot or base portion 30.

Thus each module unit comprises a complete operating unit. With the cooperative relationship of parts, such as of the plates 60, and of the wiring system of each module unit being connected to that of the adjacent module unit by a single friction connector and of the adjacent gears 69-72 and 7675 meshing as the adjacent module units are brought together, there is a very simple and direct connective relationship. Only the fastening of two bolts 52 is required to secure adjacent module units together. The sequential timing of the feeding arms 45 will be readily apparent. The position of the pin 78 within the slot of the bar 80 can be arranged prior to the joining of a pair of module units as by slipping off the gears 75 and rotating the gears 76 until the feeding arms 45 are properly positioned, as indicated in FIG. 1. The terminal portion 90 basically comprises spaced side plates secured by the locking bosses 94 and 95 to the adjacent module unit. This portion merely forms an enclosure for the feeding arm 45 and the extended plate 60 of the rearmost module unit.

Thus it is seen that there has been provided a very simply constructed module unit readily assembled with adjacent module units to provide any desired capacity for a collating machine with said units being readily added or subtracted from a given machine to very easily and quickly modify the capacity thereof.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention which, generally stated, consists in a machine capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in the parts and combinations of parts dis closed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A collating machine having in connection therewith a module unit comprising a flat wall member, a web extending outwardly of said wall having a supporting foot plate member operatively positioned adjacent one end of said tray means for receiving said sheets of paper from said tray means, transversely spaced vertically disposed pairs of rollers operatively positioned relative to said plate member for receiving said sheets of paper, and means for rotating said rollers to engage and move said sheets of paper.

2. The collating apparatus as defined in claim 1, comprising a second module unit identical to said first mentioned module unit, said module units having adjacent mating edge portions, means securing said adjacent edge portions, said horizontal plate members being coplanar to provide a surface for the passage of sheets of paper thereover, and said rollers of said adjacent module units being a lesser distance apart than the length of any of said sheets of paper.

3. A collating machine having in connection therewith a module unit comprising a flat wall member, a web extending outwardly of said wall, tray means for storing a plurality of sheets of paper, means for removably securing said tray means to said web, reciprocating paper feeding means journalled in said web in operative relationship with said tray means, means for operating said paper feeding means, a horizontally disposed plate member operatively positioned adjacent one end of said tray means for receiving said sheets of paper from said tray means, transversely spaced vertically disposed pairs of rollers operatively positioned relative to said horizontal plate member for receiving said sheets of paper, and means for rotating said rollers to engage and move said sheets of paper.

4. A collating machine comprising a power unit having first and second spaced apart gears at one side thereof, a module unit having mating means to secure the same to said power unit, said module unit comprising a flat wall member, a web extending outwardly of said wall, tray means for storing a plurality of sheets of paper, means for removably securing said tray means to said web, reciprocating paper feeding means journalled in said web in operative relationship to said tray means, a horizontally disposed plate member operatively positioned adjacent one end of said tray means for receiving said sheets of paper from said tray means, transversely spaced vertically disposed pairs of rollers operatively positioned relative to said horizontal plate member for receiving said sheets of paper, said module having a first gear mating with said power unit first gear for rotating said rollers, and said module having a second gear mating with said power unit second gear for operating said paper feeding means.

5. A collating apparatus as defined in claim 4- comprising a second module unit identical to said firstmentioned module unit, said module units having adjacent mating edge portions, means securing said adjacent edge portions, said second module unit having a first gear mating with the first gear of said first-mentioned module unit, said second module unit having a second gear mating with the second gear of said first-mentioned module unit, the horizontal plate members of said first and second module units being coplanar to provide a surface for the passage of sheets of paper thereover, and said rollers of said adjacent module units being a lesser dis- 7 tance apart than the length of any of said sheets of paper.

6. A collating machine having in combination, a frame, a plurality of spaced apart vertically extending tray means for storing supplies of sheets of paper, means for removably securing each of said tray means to said frame, a plurality of horizontally disposed plate members spaced from each other and each being operatively positioned 7 adjacent one end of a'corresponding tray means for receiving said sheets of paper from each tray means, transversely spaced vertically disposed pairs of rollers positioned in the space between said plate members and operatively positioned adjacent said one end of each of said .tray means, means for rotating said rollers to engage and move said sheets of paper along said horizontally disposed plates, reciprocating paper feeding means operatively positioned adjacent each of said tray means, ad-

jacent pairs of said rollers being a lesser distance apart than the length of any of said sheets of paper, means to sequentially operate said reciprocating paper feeding means, and resilient means extending between each of said horizontally disposed plates to direct each newly fed sheet onto the bottom of the previously fed sheets moving along said horizontal plates.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED sTATEs, PATENTS 2,484,905 10 49 Peyrebrune 101 1s3 FOREIGN PATENTS 885,368 ,12/61 Great Britain.

EUGENE R. cAPozro, Primary Examiner. 

1. A COLLATING MACHINE HAVING IN CONNECTION THEREWITH A MODULE UNIT COMPRISING A FLAT WALL MEMBER, A WEB EXTENDING OUTWARDLY WITH THE BOTTOM OF SAID WALL, AN ARM MEMBER COPLANAR WITH THE BOTTOM OF SAID WALL, AN ARM EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF SAID WEB, A PLATE MEMBER INTEGRAL WITH SAID ARM AND PARALLEL TO SAID WALL, TRAY MEANS FOR STORING A PLURALITY OF SHEETS OF PAPER, MEANS FOR REMOVABLE SECURING SAID TRAY MEANS TO SAID WALL AND SUPPORTING THE SAME BETWEEN SAID WALL AND SAID PLATE RECIPROCATING PAPER FEEDING MEANS JOURNALLED IN SAID WEB IN OPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID TRAY MEANS, A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED PLATE MEMBER OPERATIVELY POSITIONED ADJACENT ONE END OF SAID TRAY MEANS FOR RECEIVING SAID SHEETS OF PAPER FROM SAID TRAY MEANS, TRANSVERSELY SPACED VERTICALLY DISPOSED 